The 1965 Shelby Mustang is a car lover’s dream. It was built by Ford in 1965 as part of their Mustang line, and was modified specifically by Carroll Shelby’s company and then sold as a series. The Shelby Mustang is quite a collector’s item today. A 1965 Mustang Shelby is seen as a classic muscle car and revered by auto enthusiasts from all over the world as one of the greatest muscle cars that were made.

The original Shelby Mustang were all painted white, Ford Wimbledon White to be exact. Many of the 1965 Shelby Mustangs that are seen today have Le Mans stripes, however, less than 40 percent of the Mustang Shelby GTs actually had stripes when they left the factory. All the Mustang Shelby GT had rocker panel stripes with the GT350 name on them. The engine was modified from a 289ci Windsor V8 and had specialized Cobra valve covers, three Y headers, specialized intake manifolds, and all possessed a Holley carburetor that increased their power from 271 to 325 hp. This was truly a real man’s muscle car, and many people today would give up even the grandest of Cadillac Escalades to own one.

The first 300 or so Mustang GTs that were built had batteries in the trunk instead of under the hood. This, however, led to multiple complaints of acid smelling fumes, and led the creators of the Shelby Mustang GT to install Cobra Battery Caps, which would vent the acid fumes out of the car by using hoses that exited through floor panels in the trunk. It is estimated that approximately 50 models of the Mustang GT had the Cobra battery caps which are very rare today. Shortly after the Cobra battery caps were implemented, the production of the Shelby Mustang changed and the battery was again placed in the engine area under the hood. The most rare and most desired models of the 1965 Shelby Mustang GT are the ones with the Cobra battery caps, and the battery installed in the trunk.

Given the many models and varieties of muscle car, it is a great attribute to Ford that the 1965 Mustang Shelby is still among the most desirable of all cars in its class.